Famine in Africa - please help

"Churchgoing parishioners in Mullingar this weekend have an opportunity to respond to the devastating famine in East Africa" according to Fr. Paul Crosbie, diocesan representative to Trocaire.

"Famine has a resonance with Irish people and this appeal is an opportunity for 'those who can help' to offer assistance to the most vulnerable," he said. "We see people who are struggling to survive and the situation is absolutely grim. We are invited by the Gospel to respond."

"I am acutely aware of the straitened circumstances in which many people find themselves at home" he concluded, "and accept that people can only give from what they have".

"East Africa Appeal 2011 has a very traditional resonance to it - Give A Little - or what little you can - it will help a lot," he said.

Thanks is expressed to the people of the diocese of Meath who contributed over €473,000 in the Trocaire Lenten Appeal last year, while a further €305,000 was donated in response to the earthquake in Haiti eighteen months ago.

Trócaire is on the ground in East Africa, bringing food and water to affected communities. Such is the severity of the current drought, however, that Trócaire launched an emergency appeal for the people of East Africa.

Last week, the United Nations classified the crisis in East Africa as the first famine of the 21stcentury.

Millions of people across Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are dependent on food aid, with up to half the population of certain affected areas suffering from serious malnutrition.

Over 1,000 Somalis are arriving into Ethiopia and Kenya every day

Malnutrition rates among Somali children arriving into Ethiopia or Kenya are as high as 47 per cent;

Communities in Ethiopia have reported that 80 per cent of animals have died

Half of the 13 million affected people are children.

In the photo above, Trocaire Director Justin Kilcullen joined Mary Robinson at an emergency shelter in Somalia.